By wendell minnick
Published: 24 November 2008
TAIPEI - A spate of arrests of members of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has drawn allegations that the Beijing-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which once ruled Taiwan under martial law, is back in the business of political repression.
The most controversial are the arrests on allegations of corruption of Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's former president; Chiou I-jen, a former National Security Council secretary-general; and Yeh Sheng-mao, former director-general of the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau.
"I am extremely concerned about the political situation in Taiwan, and I am personally very angry at the way the current government is handling national affairs and the way our beloved Taiwan is heading: back to the authoritarian past," said Joseph Wu, former de facto Taiwan ambassador to the United States under the Chen administration.
KMT officials say the arrests are not politically motivated.
"The Special Investigative Task Force was created by Chen Shui-bian and its officials were appointed by him," said KMT legislator Shyu Jong-shyoung.
Shyu said the DPP was overreacting to the recent arrests and using them for political gain.
Among the current and former DPP officials arrested or questioned on allegations of corruption are:
■ Yeh, arrested Oct. 6.
■ Yu Cheng-hsien, former minister of the interior, arrested Oct. 15.
■ James Lee, former deputy minister of environmental protection, arrested Oct. 28.
■ Chen Ming-wen, Chiayi County magistrate, arrested Oct. 29.
■ Chiou, arrested Oct. 31.
■ Su Chih-fen, Yunlin County magistrate, arrested Nov. 4.
■ Ma Yung-cheng, former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general, arrested Nov. 4.
■ Chen, arrested Nov. 11.
Pre-trial detention is legal in Taiwan, and a suspect can be held without charge for four months.
It is unclear whether more arrests of DPP members are planned.
Protests and riots have followed the arrests and a Nov. 3 visit by a mainland Chinese delegation headed by Chen Yunlin, chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.
"The excessive police presence during Chen Yunlin's visit, resembling scenes from the martial law days, infuriated DPP supporters," said Hsiao Bi-khim, former DPP legislator and adviser to former president Chen.
The KMT swept legislative and presidential elections earlier this year, ending an eight-year gap after holding power for more than a half-century. From 1947 to 1987, the KMT governed Taiwan through martial law, imprisoning or killing thousands in a period known as the White Terror.
The new president, Ma Ying-jeou, promised closer relations with China. The arrests have sparked accusations that Ma's government is carrying out political retribution and trying to appease the mainland.
No KMT officials are among those arrested since the election.
"While the DPP has repeatedly expressed support for rooting out corruption, the fairness and impartiality of the judiciary on these cases have come under question," said Hsiao. "Party members suspect that a political witch hunt is taking place, and the atmosphere of intimidation brings back familiar memories of the mass arrests following the Formosa Incident of 1979."
Some non-KMT officials say the arrests are awkward bureaucratic mismanagement, not political.
"I frankly do not consider the arrests part of the KMT's revenge or its attempt to placate mainland China," said Wu Yu-Shan, director of the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica. "The timing of the arrests, particularly those of the two magistrates, was politically awkward, as they made it possible for Chen to form a 'united front of hunger strikers' and made the Green camp [DPP] hysteric."
Instead of a coordinated campaign for revenge, said Wu Yu-Shan, "I consider the arrests signs of lack of coordination among the different branches of the government."
U.S. View
Allegations of KMT political oppression could become a thorn in the side of U.S.-Taiwan relations.
"I think it will become an irritant between Taiwan and the U.S. if the situation is not improved, and the U.S. government may move one scale higher than its current statement," said Joseph Wu, now a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University.
"And if the situation gets much worse than what it is right now, i.e., more arrests, more detention without hearing and indictment, etc., the U.S. might do something such as unpublicized human rights dialogue, open criticism and limitation of the exchanges between the two countries," Wu said. "But I don't think the overall relations between Taiwan and the U.S. will be affected."
Washington is watching the situation closely, but so far, its reaction has been tepid. In a Nov. 12 press conference, the de facto U.S. ambassador to Taiwan called the arrest of Chen a "big story," but said it was "a matter for Taiwan's legal system to resolve."
"The only thing I would say is that not only Taiwan but also your friends around the world will be watching this process very closely, and we believe it needs to be transparent, fair and impartial," said Stephen Young, who runs the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). "Assuming that it is conducted in that manner, it can strengthen the confidence, both here and around the world, in your democracy."
Young said U.S.-Taiwan cooperation on security issues is close "across the board" and pointed to Taiwan Defense Minister Chen Chao-min's "successful trip to America earlier this fall."
"President Ma's support for the arms requested and budgeted by the Chen administration resulted in President Bush's notification of $6.4 billion in weapons [sales] to the U.S. Congress last month," Young said. "This was a strong reaffirmation of America's commitment to Taiwan's defense needs under the Taiwan Relations Act."
Young said unofficial advisers to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama were scheduled to visit Taiwan in early December. The delegation will include former AIT chairman Richard Bush and Strobe Talbott, former U.S. deputy secretary of state, both now with the Brookings Institution in Washington. Bush declined to comment.
"I understand that they have been among a very large number of people who have been advising Sen. Obama during the campaign, but I can't say whether they're coming out with a message reflecting [the thinking of] the president-elect, or whether they're coming in their Brookings capacity," Young said.
Young said unofficial delegations from Washington are common. Earlier this year, former U.S. defense secretary William Perry led a group to Taiwan that later traveled to China as well.
Source: Defense News
【翻譯】在台灣，逮捕讓人回想起戒嚴（感謝噗友 poavosa 翻譯）
Defense News Cover Story
米國國防新聞週刊封面故事
In Taiwan, Arrests Raise Echoes of Martial Law
在台灣，逮捕讓人回想起戒嚴
By Wendell Minnick
Published: 24 November 2008
台北－突如其來的大規模逮捕獨派民進黨黨員引來指控，認為曾以戒嚴法統治台灣並對北京友善的中國國民黨又回到政治鎮壓的老本行。
最受人爭議的是遭指控貪污的台灣前總統陳水扁、前國安會秘書長邱義仁、及前法務部調查局長葉勝茂的逮捕。
「我對台灣的政治狀況非常擔心。我個人對目前政府處理國事的方法，以及我們熱愛的台灣正走向過去的專制獨裁感到非常憤怒，」陳水扁政府前實質台灣駐米大使吳昭燮表示。
國民黨官員說這些逮捕沒有政治動機。
「特偵組是由陳水扁設立並指派其官員，」國民黨立委徐中雄表示。
徐中雄說民進黨對最近的逮捕反應過度並藉此來牟取政治利益。
被指控貪污並遭到逮捕或審問的現任及前任民進黨官員包括：
■ 葉勝茂，十月六日逮捕。
■ 余政憲，前內政部長，十月十五日逮捕。
■ 李界木，環保署副署長，十月二十八日逮捕。
■ 陳明文，嘉義縣長，十月二十九日逮捕。
■ 邱義仁，十月三十一日逮捕。
■ 蘇治芬，雲林縣長，十一月四日逮捕。
■ 馬永成，前總統府秘書長，十一月四日逮捕。
■ 陳水扁，十一月十一日逮捕。
在台灣審判前羈押是合法的。涉案人在未被起訴前可以被拘留四個月。
目前並不清楚是否有逮捕更多民進黨員的計畫。
在這些逮捕及十一月三日中國海協會主席陳雲林率領中國代表團來訪後抗議及動亂不斷。
「陳雲林來訪時過度配置的警力很像是戒嚴時期的情景，這讓民進黨支持者感到憤怒，」前民進黨立委兼陳前總統顧問蕭美琴表示。
國民黨在今年稍早橫掃了立委及總統選舉，終止了執政超過半個世紀後的八年間斷。國民黨從 1947 到 1987 年以戒嚴法統治台灣。在這段「白色恐怖」期間監禁殺害了很多人民。
新總統馬英九保證會與中國更親近。這些逮捕激起人們的譴責，認為馬政府正在進行政治報復並努力討好中國大陸。
選舉後沒有任何國民黨官員被逮捕。
「儘管民進黨一再表示支持根除貪腐，這些案子的司法公平性與公正性實在令人質疑，」蕭美琴表示。「我們的黨員懷疑政治獵巫正在進行，而這種威脅恐嚇的氣氛讓人不禁想起 1979 年美麗島事件後的大規模逮捕。」
部分非國民黨官員說這些逮捕是笨拙的官僚處置失當，而非政治因素。
「坦白說我不認為這些逮捕是國民黨的報復或是企圖要討好中國大陸，」中研院政治研究所主任吳玉山表示。「這些逮捕的時機，特別是兩位縣長的逮捕，在政治上是笨拙的。這讓陳水扁得以組成『絕食抗議陣線』，並讓綠營抓狂」。
這些不是有組織的報復行動，吳玉山表示，「我認為這些逮捕顯示政府不同單位間缺乏協調」。
米國的觀點
對國民黨政治壓迫的指控可能會讓米台關係有如芒刺在背。
「如果狀況沒有改善的話，我覺得這會成為台灣與米國間的那根刺。而米國政府可能會比目前的聲明更加高分貝，」目前在政治大學國關中心擔任研究員的吳昭燮表示。
「如果情況比目前更加惡化，也就是說有更多未經審訊或起訴的逮捕或羈押，米國可能會採取某些行動，例如非公開的人權對話、公開批評及限制兩國的交流等，」吳昭燮表示。「不過我認為整體而言台米關係不會受到影響。」
華盛頓正在密切注意這個情形。不過到目前為止的反應都很溫和。在十一月十二日記者會中，實質米國駐台大使稱陳水扁遭到逮捕是件「大事」，不過說這件事「要靠台灣的司法體制解決」。
「我唯一要說的是不只是台灣，包括全世界的朋友都很密切注意這件事。我們相信這需要透明、公平及公正，」AIT 主席楊甦棣表示。「如果能照這樣進行的話，這將會強化這裡及全球對你們民主的信心。」
楊甦棣說米台在安全議題方面有全面性的密切配合。他指的是台灣國防部長陳肇敏 「今年秋天順利的訪米行程」。
「馬總統支持陳水扁政府的軍售需求及經費計畫，布希總統因而上個月向國會提出 64 億米金的武器（銷售）報告，」楊甦棣表示。「這是米國依據台灣關係法對台彎國防需求承諾的再次強烈保證。」
楊甦棣說米國總統當選人歐巴瑪的非官方顧問預定在十二月初訪台。代表團將包括前 AIT 主席卜睿哲及前米國副國務卿 Strobe Talbott。兩人目前都在華府的布魯金學會任職。卜睿哲不願對此評論。
「我知道他們都是歐巴瑪參議員競選期間龐大顧問團裡的成員，不過我不知道他們會傳達反應總統當選人（想法）的訊息，還是是站在布魯金的立場。」
楊甦棣說來自華府的非官方代表團很常見。今年稍早，前米國國防部長 William Perry 率團來台，並在稍後訪問中國。
